governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
(photocredit: lakechalice.blogspot.com) 97.5% of Delhi residents live in urban areas, many in slums. All 17 million of them live within an area of 1500 square kilometers. Travelling from end to end, despite the horrendous traffic, takes just two hours on average. There are five Municipalities (including the Delhi Cantonment Board) to look after their comforts. […]
Read More Who needs a State Government in Delhi?Hate is a powerful emotion. A sense of rejection, powerlessness, consistent negative discrimination or perceived persecution; any of these can invoke it. In India it is a common, albeit not a publicly expressed sentiment. But it lurks very close to the surface. Who hates whom, is an easily answered question. But why the poor do […]
Read More Hate and its adherentsBy offering soft, warm, paranthas to Kejriwal to call off the AAP dharna, Jung, the new Lt. Governor of Delhi, has not only raised the culinary standards for political parleys but acted in a manner aligned to the high office he holds. In sharp contrast is the behavior of the Government of India’s Ministry of […]
Read More Najeeb Jung shinesThe Left has the best track record with respect to controlling corruption, followed by the BJP, with the Congress in the rear. Apologists of the Congress would be quick to assert that often corruption is part and parcel of rapid growth. They are right. China, Indonesia and Malaysia are good examples where rapid growth over […]
Read More Corruption Red Flags and the Original SinModi is the face of efficient, impersonal, big government on the pattern of China. Infrastructure development, economic growth and jobs are what this State assures. In exchange, citizens are to accept greatly constrained rights with respect to personal freedom or the public voicing of alternative sentiments. Discipline and allegiance to the party line is the […]
Read More Modi and Kejriwal: A New Year’s tale of two facesIn India, fractured as it is by multiple social divisions, on top of the usual economic distinctions of class, the notion that any one party can appeal to the majority seems far-fetched, especially in the context of an increasingly aware and literate electorate. Intelligent voters seek to maximize their self-interest, which is increasingly defined in […]
Read More Rahul and Kejriwal; common aspirationsDelhi voters are in search of a government. The BJP only has 32 and can at best reach 34 with the two “others” elected. To go further and get 36 it needs to break off two-thirds of the Congress or the Aam Admi Party (AAP) MLAs. Neither option seems viable. The AAP has been offered […]
Read More AAP can’t buck the muckThe citizens of Delhi are a spoilt lot. They pay the least in taxes relative to income (the highest in India and three times the average national income) and get the maximum subsidies and facilities from the government. The expenditure for the current financial year 2013-14 is INR 24,000 per person, the bulk of which […]
Read More The New PoliticiansThe goonda raj, unleashed in Delhi from 1975, pulled the rug from under the principled politics of the previous three decades. Even the followers of Gandhian turned Socialist, JP Narayan and Lohiya succumbed to achieving ends without giving a thought to the means adopted, assiduously emulated and enhanced the bad practices of the sole national […]
Read More Wanted Political Principles
Opinion India 